Movie review: Young Adult by Jason Reitman

Directed by Jason Reitman

Written by Diablo Cody

Release date: 2011

Genre: comedy-drama

Cast:
Mavis Gary - Charlize Theron
Buddy Slade - Patrick Wilson
Beth Slade - Elizabeth Reaser
Matt Freehauf - Patton Oswald

Synopsis:

Mavis Gary, a divorced, 37-year-old ghost writer of young adult novels, is living with her dog, a tiny Pomeranian called Dulce, in Minneapolis. She escaped her backwater hometown and she's made a career. Although plenty of people would say she was successful, she is not happy with her life.

In fact she is nearing a complete meltdown: with the scary forty looming over her  she is dating all the wrong guys if dating at all, drinking heavily in her free time. What's more she is on deadline with her editor to finish the last book of the soon-to-be-cancelled and evidently declining series so she might lose her job soon.

One day she gets a mass e-mail; it's from her former high school sweetheart Buddy Slade, announcing the birth of his daughter. Desperate Mavis believes it is a sign she and Buddy are meant to be together again. After all these years he contacted her, right? So what it was an e-mail sent to practically all other friends as well?  It means deep down he must still care, doesn't it?

 Without thinking long about it she packs her suitcase, her laptop and her lap dog and leaves for Mercury, Minn., the hometown she hates, to reclaim her life with the old flame. She tells herself Buddy needs to be saved from his mundane suburban existence because it must be even worse than her own, right? And she will be his white knight.

Upon arriving she reconnects with a former classmate she barely remembers, Matt Freehauf, a disabled misfit who distills homemade bourbon in the garage of the house he shares with his sister. Then she accidentally stumbles upon her own mother she didn't intend to visit at all, all the time claiming that she is here only because she has to oversee a real estate deal. Finally she meets Buddy and his wife, Beth, who is a drummer in the local 'mom rock band'. When Mavis attends the concert of Beth's band, the other moms are resentful of  her  - they remember her as the "psychotic prom queen bitch". Let's face it, nothing's changed, Mavis proves them right at every turn.When Beth wants to stay out longer after the concert Mavis offers to drive the drunk Buddy home. On the lawn they share a kiss that is quickly broken up when a babysitter witnesses it. The next day, after an awkward encounter with her parents, Mavis is invited to Buddy's daughter's naming ceremony during which she declares her love for him. Will it be a new beginning or an end? 

My impressions:

With the book market swamped with YA high school drama novels about prom queens and their crushes I was really curious to meet one of their authors even if a fictional one. I wasn't disappointed. Mavis is someone you often want to throttle, a spoiled princess who used to have it all and now can't come to terms with her failure. She drinks a lot, pulls at her hair when distressed and seems generally unconcerned with other people. When she writes her inane series she writes mainly about herself, or rather about a girl she would love to be, trying to forget that her real life is in tatters and she hardly ever acts her age. When she makes a decision it is usually a young-adult decision and her pathological inability to let go of the past is pulling her down at every turn.

Mavis earned my interest not because the film attempted to create sympathy but rather because her ideas and her actions were completely understandable in regards to how she has been groomed to see the world. It is a tale of stunted development and I admit Theron was a comic force of nature, presenting a bitingly witty performance. She gave her character considerable density and humanity despite her monstrous aspects. Usually in fiction female characters are judged as 'unworthy' (read: 'bitches') if they exhibit the slightest bit of selfish impulse and/or self-interest, and/or if they show the slight amount of characteristics which may be classified as 'unsympathetic'. Mavis is a 'super-bitch' but her raw honesty and outrageous comments are actually her biggest assets. While there is a certain intensity in watching Mavis barrel towards her inevitable confrontation and failure, it creates a sense of dread more than gleeful anticipation.

Matt was an intriguing foil for Mavis. He was the voice of reason, warning her time and again as she attempted to seduce Buddy, and he ended up falling into the high school role of almost asexual sidekick. He was pathetic, that's true, but in a lovable way and in the end he came across as a bigger, stronger man than Buddy himself. The film seems to forgive him his mental arrest, almost as if he had no other choice. Perhaps he didn't. I was also pleased that the director wasn't tempted to (spoiler, highlight to read) make of Matt another serious love interest of Mavis.

What's interesting about this particular narrative is how much it resembles the plot line of any number of male-driven romantic melodramas. If you read one of them you know them all: a hometown boy made good comes back to his birthplace and a) realizes what he's missing all along and b) rekindles a romance with his childhood sweetheart who of course was the right girl for him but he was blind. Young Adult skews these absurd fantasies showing that sometimes it is not only too late to enter the same river twice but also it is hardly wise to try. There is an undercurrent of sadness that flows through the movie, which in turn makes its pitch-black comic tone all the more potent. 

Final verdict:

I found this movie very funny, often sad and a little bit scathing, but I didn't feel dirtied coming out of it. In fact it’s a film I'll be happy to revisit. When big-studio comedies lull us with smiles and fairy tales this one makes you laugh because it shows harsh truth. Bitter-sweet truth, without easy, miracle solutions but still.

Review: Twelve (The Danilov Quintet 01) by Jasper Kent

Book info:
Form: pdf
Genre: dark fantasy, historical fiction, Napoleonic wars,classic vampire story
Target audience: adults

Synopsis: 

On 12th June 1812, Napoleon's massive Grande Armee forded the River Niemen and by doing so crossed the proverbial Rubicon - the invasion of Russia had begun. In the face of superior numbers and tactics, the imperial Russian army began its fast retreat. But a handful of Russian officers - veterans of Borodino - are charged with trying to slow the enemy's inexorable march on Moscow. Indeed, one of their number has already set the wheels of resistance in motion, having summoned the help of a band of mercenaries from the outermost fringes of Christian Europe, Wallachia. They know everything about harrassing and defeating an enemy far more powerful than you and they are highly efficient.

The mercenaries are compared to the once-feared Russian secret police - the Oprichniki - and the name sticks. As rumours of plague travelling west from the Black Sea reach the Russians, the Oprichniki - but twelve in number - arrive. Preferring to work alone, and at night, the twelve prove brutally, shockingly effective against the French. But one amongst the Russians, Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, is unnerved by the Oprichniki's ruthlessness. As he comes to understand the true, horrific nature of these strangers, he wonders at the nightmare they've unleashed in their midst...

What I liked:

Oprichniki, painting by Nikolai Nevrev. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Napoleonic Wars, especially the disastroud and ill-guided invasion of Russia, are always a very colourful canvass for any novel; personally I like that period very much. This book didn't disappoint me either. Although I found some minor historical errors (like the narrator speaking of Poland which officially didn't exist at that time - just the ephemeral Grand Duchy of Warsaw, created by the Napoleon to appease the Poles and make them join his army). Ok, I know, it is not a historical novel and by the way who cares...just some weirdos like me.

The pace was fairly slow at the start, as the narrator focuses often on his private life and thoughts. At just over the midpoint, about 270 pages in, the book becomes faster and there was one twist at the very end which was a complete surprise to me.

Now about the voordalak (vampires). I am happy to say these are closer to the older image of a vamp so as far from your Twilight, sparkling, non-human-blood drinking, emotionally tortured vampires as a lap dog is from a wild wolf. The vampires in Twelve  are also not your average paranormal romance dudes, those exceptionally handsome and lustful, picking-up-the-best-babes-and-giving-them-the-best-sex-experience-ever-for-a-sip-or-two types . They are sadistic killers and parasites, having all the compassion and subtlety of a Jack the Ripper. They must drink blood to stay alive but they are not kind to their food sources. Getting the most satisfaction from the extreme emotional states of terror and despair in their victims (even other vampires) they will plan out their hunting and then they spend hours in performing the act to heighten their own enjoyment. In other words they were truly horrible monsters which fitted well the Russia and the ugly war around them. It was also nice that the author didn't hesitate to get back to the original themes of "Dracula", exploring such philosophical questions as what it means to be human, how you become a monster, what it means to be a loyal friend or a traitor etc.

Now a bit about the main character and the narrator, Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov. He is a complex hero, one of these flawed ones, not completely likeable to say the least of it but very real and completely honest which warmed me to him significantly. Although I admit that his moral compass was sometimes totally off he was an interesting man to follow around. Aleksei is a professional soldier and spy, thus not far away from mass murderers such as vampires. There's a huge war going on, and people are dying like flies anyway. The survivors commit horrible attrocities out of hunger and low morals, not to mention the harsh Russian winter. It is only too natural that, despite his initial hatred towards the Oprichniki, soon enough Aleksei starts asking himself whether these monsters are really worse than your average human being. 

Aleksei is married and has a young son; still, while lingering in Moskow, he enters an illicit relationship with a prostitute called Domnikiia or Dominique. Their relationship quickly exceeds the ordinary transaction turning into a proper affair or maybe even something more serious. It was funny that Dominique caught his eye because of her alleged likeness to the second wife of Napoleon, Marie Louise, the daughter of Francis I, emperor of Austria. Somehow Aleksey's  pangs of conscience, not very acute to begin with, were significantly diminishing with every death he witnessed and every enemy he killed. You might think that immoral or wrong but it was also very close to reality - especially during a war, when nobody was sure what the next day might bring. I have to admit I also appreciated the fact that Aleksei never turned into one of those annoyingly tortured heroes, being teared apart by his morality and urges. Once again, you might not like the fact that the hero had both a wife and a mistress and basically considered it ok but personally I found it in perfect accordance with that era and its often hypocritical mores.

Finally let me tell you that one of the vampires, Iuda, definitely deserved more attention that he got and I hope that he will be featured in the next installment. Why? Spoiler  highlight to read: Iuda is not a actually a vampire, just a very sick human sadist who pretends to be  one to indulge himself. I do wonder how he managed to dupe  his vampire companions, his boss and our brave Lyosha as well.

What I didn't like:

I grant it, the book was first published in January 2009. Still the fact that the main character for almost half of the novel tried to solve a big 'mystery' of Oprichniki  must seem a bit silly for any reader of fantasy. Even the fact that Aleksei emphasised every now and then that he was above folk fairy tales and other such absurdities didn't explain it well. All the clues were there from the very beginning - the novel starts with a Russian tale which immediately lets you know that there will be some paranormal elements involved. Then we are told that the creepy mercenaries came from Wallachia (Romania nowadays), leaving a trail of death in their wake, they operated only at night and slept during the day, they didn't want any money, always a surprising thing for a mercenary, their leader called himself 'Zmyeevich' so a son of a serpent, an adder or a dragon...honestly when I come to think about it there were actually too many clues around to make it half a decent secret.

Napoleons retreat from Moscow (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Also I have to add that sometimes I was rather baffled by the powers of the Oprichniki. One moment they are pronounced to be worth more than ten ordinary soldiers - very stealthy, very deadly, freakishly strong and fast. The next moment Aleksei is able to finish off two of them at the same time and we are told that, in fact, it is easy to kill a vampire, providing you are prepared and you know what to do...hmmm. Still his other comrades were never as lucky or as skilled as him although they knew what they were dealing with...

The final showdown I found  a little too convenient for  Aleksei as well - it was one of these blatant cases of ‘being able to have your cake and eat it'. Still knowing that there are more installment coming I can forgive it.

Final verdict:

If you like historical fiction set in the 19th century, and  you have nothing against classic vampire mythology, this  romp where the odds are stacked against your hero at every turn might be up your valley.I will definitely give a try to the next book in the series despite the shortcomings of the first part.

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Sometimes I don't feel like reviewing a book and any help is very welcome. I asked my friendly old computer to do the job this time because let's face it - the book seemed a bit mechanical to me. Here you got the result - my first computer - generated review. Enjoy!

DIM W% 4  : REM reserve 4 bytes of memory, pointed TO by INTEGER variable W%
> ?W% = 42  : REM store constant 42; equivalent of 'POKE W%, 42'
> PRINT ?W% : REM PRINT the byte pointed TO by W%; equivalent of 'PRINT PEEK(W%)'

Hel-lo. This is an old computer, COM-MOD-ORE 64, speaking. I was asked to read and review a book. New adult book. 

Input material: LOSING IT. Author: Cora Carmack. Source: a sadistic reader. SCRATCH. A curious reader.
trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtrtrtrrrrrrrrr

Output ready to be displayed:

TTTTTrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Display:BOOT,DVERIFY

Main characters:

BLISS EDWARDS
sex: female
age: 22
social status: a virgin and ashamed of it. SCRATCH. Mortified of it.
biggest problem: how to get laid without getting laid and how to look hot without looking slutty
possible solution: non-exitent due to fatal logic errors
occupation: theatre student - part time, control freak - full time, idiot - 24/7
brain cells: 3 (?)
my assessment: go jump into a lake you ho.TRAP, RESTORE, a bland heroine without any depth or reason. Another Bella Swan just older but equally stupid.

GARRICK TAYLOR
sex: male
age: between 23 and 30, not precised
social status: drop dead handsome guy with a motorcycle, miraculously single with a real BRITISH ACCENT whatever it means
biggest problem: how to get laid. Period.
possible solution: reading Shakespeare in a club full of skimpily clad females in heat. Shakespeare always draws bitches.
occupation: theatre professor - part time, student snatcher full time, cat stroker in the evenings
brain cells: 3 (?)
my assessment: instantly forgetable, too-pretty-to-be-true theatre geek without one original thought in his head.

Plot:
They meet in a pub. They fall in lust. They kiss. They almost make out. She runs away naked. Some more complications. He is her teacher she is his Juliet. They kiss. She is unsure. He is horny. They kiss. They grope and kiss. Something about theatre. They kiss. Friends meddle. They kiss. She acquires a cat. She is ill. He takes care of her. They finally go to bed together. They kiss. She wants more. They kiss. The cat. They have sex. And kiss. Cat. Kiss. No chemistry. Kissssssssssssss

ttttttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtrtrtrtrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttt

Break for a Pac - man game

Back to action

Conclusions:

Faked lust
Faked intensity
Faked forbidden love
Faked passion
Failed to keep me interested.
Faked male character with blond hair falling into crystal blue eyes.
Really idiotic female character - no fake.
No spark. I repeat no spark.

Statistics:

Funny quotes: 4 %
Rubbish content: 90%
Fake drama: 5%
Complete and utter rubish: 1%
Dialogues: wooden 99%
Narration style: wooden 100% mechanical 100%

Recommended to: none. Machines, stay away. Might be deadly for your motherboards. Humans: stay away. You might be a victim of a permanent brain damage. Thank you. Have a nice day.

ttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttt

Movie Review: The Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin

Directed by Benh Zeitlin

Screenplay by Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Date of release: 2012

Genre: magical reality

Cast:
Hushpuppy: Quvenzhané Wallis
Wink : Dwight Henry
Jean Battiste: Levy Easterly

Synopsis:

“Once there was a Hushpuppy,” the narrator (Hushpuppy herself) informs us at the very beginning. This 5-year-old (?) girl, living in tough circumstances in a stretch of Louisiana bayou called the Bathtub, very much resembles your average heroine of a fairy tale. She is cute, she believes in a kind of magic, her mum has disappeared and she wishes her back. There is more of it but not exactly fairy-tale-ish anymore.

Her father, Wink, is a dying man in dire straits, bequeathing all his wordly posessions — mainly squalid trailers and old, rusty oil drums - but also an ethos, a tribe and a way of life to his resourceful and rebellious, although very young daughter. And if the girl is vulnerable, she is also powerful, her temperament a tough alloy of innocence, stubbornness and guile. Hushpuppy is searching for her mother, and also trying to save a world threatened by natural disaster, mythic beasts and well-meaning but soulless government authorities.Her epic struggle is in part a girl’s attempt to grapple with loss and danger using the tools she finds in her emotional and cognitive arsenal: courage, empathy and imagination. 

What I liked:

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a fantastical, emotionally powerful journey. Its magic is that it does not worry too much about distinguishing among the real and fantastic elements of this quest, or inviting the viewer to sort them into different levels of meaning. We are presented the world as a child might experience it. Of course it may be possible to surmise, in retrospect, that the aurochs, the mythic beasts, freed from the Arctic ice, are symbolic, that Hushpuppy’s bittersweet meeting with her mother is a dream (or a case of mistaken identity) and that the actual world this child inhabits is more full of weeping than she can understand. Still the filmmaker comes from a perspective of great empathy and considerable skill. I appreciate such an approach.

What I didn't like:

Have you heard about powerty porn? It isn't anything new; if you've  ever seen one of those  kitsch (in my very humble opinion) portraits of hungry, dishevelled children painted by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo you might understand better what I mean (one of those is shown below).

Glamourized poverty by Murillo

Glamourized powerty in the movie

 I suppose this movie might be a great example of such a trend as it tries to present the unreal, beautiful life of utter poverty which doesn't exist and an unreal, idealized community, full of people who are nice, wretchedly destitute, idle drunkards and proud of it. They think their way of life is not only interesting,  good for children and for themselves, but also something worth preserving and cultivating. I was waiting and waiting for them to wake up at some point - in vain. Really, sometimes their blindness made me very angry because, let's face it, what future are they going to pass to the band of kids they take care of? A five-year-old girl might think her hovel of a house is the best place on Earth but any adult would be able to tell her otherwise, even her dear papa, who, while dying, doesn't think how to ensure a good home for his beautiful little daughter. What a senseless waste.

Final verdict:

It was a good story but it took me three evenings to finish watching it. Why? No, not because it was very long. Approximately after half an hour I felt so drained and depressed I had to stop the movie and start doing something else. Accordingly I am in two minds about this one. On the one hand it was definitely something fresh and original, perhaps even the most original 2012 film around. The little actress, Quvenzhané Wallis, was a joy to watch - this girl really has a smile to charm fish out of water. On the other hand, having experienced relative powerty myself, I can see neither glamour nor advantages of such a state and the movie offered nothing whatsoever to make you think little Hushpuppy would be better off than her dear daddy or his band of friends. It is not an ending I look forward to in my stories.

Movie review: A Cat in Paris by Jean-Loup Felicioli , Alain Gagnol

Directed By: Jean-Loup Felicioli , Alain Gagnol
Genre: cartoon, black comedy

Release date: 2012

Synopsis:

Dino is a black cat with fashionable red stripes that leads a double life. By day he pretends to be a normal pet, living a luxury life with Zoe, a little mute girl whose mother, Jeanne, is a detective in the Parisian police force. But at night he sneaks out the window to follow and help Nico - a slinky cat burglar whose fluid movements and dexterity are poetry in motion. Nico steals money and jewellery, evading captors with ease and slips and swishes from rooftop to rooftop across the Paris skyline. Dino loves it as well. Still everything what is so good cannot last forever.

One night the cat's two worlds collide when young Zoe all of a sudden decides to follow Dino - and falls into the hands of Victor Costa. Costa is a blustery gangster planning the theft of a rare statue, soon to be displayed in a Parisian museum. Zoe's mum does her damnedest to prevent the theft and catch him. Now the cat and the cat burglar must team up to save Zoe from the bumbling thieves, leading to a thrilling acrobatic finale on top of Notre Dame. Will Zoe speak again?

My impressions:

A 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, this movie is very different from your ordinary Pixar/Disney fare (read: it is hand-drawn as opposed to CGI).Its style from time to time reminded me of paintings of Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani and, more generally, Art Deco  - strange but charming at the same time. Anyway the old-school animation which doesn't deal with photorealistic backgrounds was very refreshing to watch although I did need a moment or two to get used to it. The colours were surprisingly vivid,  particularly a midnight violet sky with pale yellow stars, and the characters - full of quirky detail: feet were tiny, angular and pointed; women's breasts, perfectly circular, bob up near their shoulders; Dino's nose, usually held high, is a delicate shade of light purple.

I admit the movie was breezy entertainment, boasted by some imaginatively designed sequences and a sly sense of humor (surely the henchman Monsieur Hulot is so named in honor of the great French comedian?).

The movie officially revels in Paris but it is a very schematic Paris of another era. If it wasn't for the Notre Dame Cathedral and the tell-tale Eiffel Tower you could say it was set in any big city. Some of the action (and violence) in "A Cat in Paris" borders on the jarring, and overall I found the plot a bit too simplistic to suit me (but hey, it is a children's movie, right?). It was especially funny that you could  tell who was a 'white hat' and who was the villain just observing the shape of the characters' eyes with 100% accuracy. It kind of ruined all the surprise element for me.

 The slam-bang finale — set atop Notre Dame Cathedral, where else, lacking just the hunchback — definitely favors bombastic effects over wit. Still getting there is a lot of fun, in part because the animators take time to make Dino a truly charismatic animal. And the movie includes one of the prettiest animated traffic jams I've happened to watch.

Final verdict:

A nice, original movie to watch with your children - but I admit rather those younger ones or those old enough to be already artistically inclined. It is a pity the directors didn't make the plot more complex to accomodate the tastes of a slightly older/more demanding audience. If you get bored, watch closer the animation - you might find many entertaining tidbits to carry you through this one.

Movie review: He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not ( À la folie... pas du tout) by Laetitia Colombani

Directed by Laeticia Colombani

Written by Laetitia Colombani Caroline Thivel

Cast:
Angélique- Audrey Tautou
Dr. Loïc Le Garrec - Samuel Le Bihan.
David - Clement Sibony
Rachel - Isabelle Carre
Release date: 2003

Genre: romantic psychological thriller, black comedy

Synopsis:

Angélique  is a pretty young girl and a successful art student who has just won an important scholarship. She seems so happy and so normal - in between creating her art projects, she has a part-time job at a cafe and house sits for a wealthy vacationing family. An ordinary life? Here comes the first darker fact: she also has an affair with a married man or so she keeps telling to all and sundry. The man in question is a well-to-do cardiologist called Loic Le Garrec, easily a decade older than her. The path of true love never runs smooth. The problem is that sometimes there is no path at all.

When Loïc's wife, Rachel, has a miscarriage, the pair separate. Happy Angélique prepares to leave with Loïc on a romantic getaway to Florence, Italy. However, Loïc doesn't meet Angélique at the airport, apparently having chosen to mend things with his estranged wife. This is the last straw for Angélique, who is thrown into a self-destructive cycle of clinical depression, ultimately losing her job and the scholarship. While watching the news one night, she learns that Loïc has been arrested for assaulting one of his patients, Sonia Jasmin. She goes to Sonia's house to convince her to drop the charges. The conversation turns into a scuffle, Sonia has a heart attack and dies. Angélique steals from the house to make it look like a robbery.

Thinking that this will win him back, Angélique goes to see Loïc at his office, arriving just in time to see him being arrested for Sonia Jasmin's murder, and embracing his wife as he is dragged away. Angélique returns home, turns on the gas and lies down on the floor. At that point the narration goes back in time and we see most of those events presented now from Loïc's point of view. As you can guess hardly anything remains as it was told by Angélique but saying more would be a huge spoiler.

What I liked:

Oh I liked plenty. It was a deliciously intelligent movie about the power of love and human imagination. It starts like one of these romantic comedies: a beautiful girl loves a man who is, sadly, already taken (aren't the best ones always already taken though?). Poor girl, deep in love, wants to do anything, simply anything, to have him for herself. Looking at Audrey Tautou you almost imagine that big fat HEA because, let's face it, who would say 'no' to those sweet, chocolate eyes and shy, innocent smile? Of course the fact that she played the main role in Amelie does enforce such an image even further. Well, here you are in for a big surprise. This movie is not a romantic flick and Angélique, even though as wide-eyed as Amelie, is hardly an innocent. Well, she might be called that, but it's only by reason of insanity. He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not has its own charms, but part of its wicked kick is that it's the anti-Amélie, presenting romantic fixation, not as noble and sweet, but objectively, as something selfish, destructive and highly volatile. In other words as something which might turn very bad.

Tautou could not be better: I am not a big fan of this actress but here, in my humble opinion, she fitted perfectly. She's infuriating — as well as emotionally present every moment onscreen. The best part is when, because of her great looks and intelligence, hardly anyone believes she might have some serious mental health problems - neither her friend, David, nor her co-worker and best friend, Héloïse, question her credibility when she repeatedly announces how happy she will be with Loïc, how much he loves her, how he is so completely prepared to leave his pregnant wife etc, etc. She is a skilled manipulator with a face of an angel so she gets away with plenty of bigger or smaller lies, a blackmail and even a murder. Who would think such a delicate, pretty girl could be so cruel? You observe with a shiver ( spoiler, highlight to read or skip) how her vaunted affair turns out to be the obsessive fantasy of a stalker barely acquainted with the object of her desire, who just lives in her neighborhood.Where Amélie was a guardian angel for the loners and broken hearts of Montmartre, Tatou's Angelique is a kind of succubus who ruins people's life without a second thought. The scariest thing is that she manages to do so from just outside the sphere of perception of pretty much everybody. Such a lovely girl...can she be morally flawed or nasty or vindictive? Nah, impossible she looks so nice....

What I didn't like:

If you watched 'The Sixth Sense'' the twist in the middle of this movie will be hardly very surprising for you because here it was done in the same way - the movie replays events just from a different perspective. Also I admit there were some boring moments during which I had to stifle a yawn or two and it especially concerns the narration of Loïc. Still the ending was a joy, with some pearls of scenes which definitely made the rest really worthwhile.

Final verdict:

I recommend this one wholeheartedly (pun intended, see the section below) especially for a St.Valentine evening. To encourage you even further I decided post a riddle from the movie.

 After Angelique has tried everything with her perfect but rahter unwilling man: sending him flowers, lionising him in a post-impressionistic portrait and even leaving him twenty seven answer phone messages of 'their' song ('L.O.V.E' by Frank Sinatra, yay!), she decided to send him the last gift. One which would be the biggest proof that she loves him dearly and they are simply made for each other. What was it? Try to guess the answer (or highlihgt to find out): it was a real pig's heart, so similar to a human one, pierced by a metal arrow; all wrapped tastefully and put into a pretty pink-violet box. How very romantic, n'est-ce pas? ;p

Review: Temeraire 01 His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Book info:
Form: pdf
Genre: alternate history fantasy 
Target audience: older YA and adults

Synopsis:

The beginning of 19th century. Imagine Napoleon Buonaparte fighting Admiral Nelson in quite unusual way - both sides use dragons of various kind and size as their air force support. Dragons are creatures which think and talk, can spit acid or fire, acting as bombers or means of transport. They are great weapons but they must be treated with utmost care and attention, even love, plus a lot of fresh meat. ;)

An egg ready to be hatched is transported on a French man-of-war. The ship is taken by the British Navy and soon enough the sailors are having a lot of fun, watching a dragonet to emerge from its shell. However a newly-hatched dragon is a great responsibility - it must be named, tethered and harnessed immediately, right before its first feeding; if not it turns wild and there is more trouble than gain from it – it will hunt people and won’t obey anybody. Dragons, intelligent, sentient beings, can choose their handler at their will. The dragonet from the French frigate chooses captain William Lawrence and he names it Temeraire, after a famous dreadnought.Nothing will be the same again for those two. They are joined forever and they must face many life-changing experiences, learn to trust each other and undergo a training. So their adventure begins!

What I liked:

I loved the dragons, I really loved them or rather the great imagination of Ms Novik which supplied them with colourful hides, intelligence and power of speech. Temeraire is my most favourite dragon in fantasy fiction, I am not joking! He is sweet, loyal, he knows French, Latin and English, he loves mathematics, jewelry and reading! He can’t read on his own but his faithful handler and friend, Lawrence is always happy to oblige!

My other source of joy: some dragons tolerate only women handlers! Yes, just imagine it: a lady straight from the salon of Jane Austen riding a dragon, EVEN being made an officer in the army! It was a dare but it paid off – the notion was great in practice but I do regret the women weren’t given a more pronounced role in that installment. Still  I hope there will be more of them in the next ones and the author deserves kudos for the mere idea! It was as if equal rights for women were imposed on the English society some 200  years earlier, imagine that!

The book is really about the developing relationship between Temeraire, the Dragon won from the French in battle, and Captain Laurence. I admit that, at times the relationship seemed a little weird. Let me give it to you straight - there are the homoerotic undertones clearly present. Is the dragon Laurence's lover? He is given gifts of jewelry, he had fits of jealousy, and does Laurence really call that 10-ton creature "my dear" time and again ? (pst pst - yes, he does). One time he even makes his beloved pet very excited indeed if you get my drift...it was an accident as Laurence didn't know what he was doing but still...and you know what? It worked for me! These two had a very unusual dynamics - William does things like reading books to Temeraire, or giving him baths, that the other aviators just don’t do. And in his own, unassuming way, Laurence upsets the status quo. This isn’t, generally, a good idea if you happen to be in a military outfit—less so when it’s the nineteenth century.

What can be said: I understood. I love my pretty, pretty dragons and I know pets can be pretty jealous as I am the owner of a very jealous dog!

What I didn't like:

I admit the narration was predictable - you could see plot twists coming a mile away - but that doesn't make the story any less satisfying. Have I mentioned all those pretty dragons? And yes, the book is rather one big adventure than something character-driven but...the dragons!!!

Final verdict:

His Majesty’s Dragon is a fantastic combination of wit and humour with conflict and difficult decisions. It is also one of the best books featuring a dragon as a main character I've read so far. Paolini's immature rendition of a draconian 'plaything' doesn't even come close to this complex tale of love, loyalty and sacrifices. You may find some parts of the story hard going, but if you persist, it's totally worth it. Personally I am in for another installment!!!Give me more dragons!!!